Lathe

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I own a Warco 918 lathe. It is a common 'import' 9" x 20" style lathe, with all their pros and cons. Using Steve Bedair's lathe site, and the Yahoo groups page (among others) as inspiration, I am slowly improving it.

I have given some of the projects their own pages; click the image for more details.

Other small projects will get a mention below.

AvE Style Cutting Oil Pot

After seeing [AvE] on Youtube make and gold-plate a cutting oil pot from some large pipe fittings, I figured I could do the same. A large (2 1/2" I think) BZP Steel Cap and Plug were bought. A hole drilled and bored through the plug, to easily fit an "acid brush", and a recess for a Neodymium magnet turned on the bottom of the cap; and they were ready. A large vise and spanner were required to fully tighten the parts (pipe threads are tapered).

Tool Tray

I needed somewhere to store my HSS, and latterly quick change tools, in easy reach. I found a suitably sized metal frame and drawer runners at work, added a thin plywood bottom and created some brackets to hang it all from. The Lathes stand needed minor modification to fit the drawer, but that was easily sorted with a saw. The resulting drawer is very useful, and holds all the tools regularly required.

Quick Change Tool Post

One of the most useful additions one can make to a lathe is fitting a QCTP. It removes the need to set the centre every time you change tool, as well as making the act of doing so, much quicker. I purchased a RDG Tools T37 quick change tool post "for Myford" as it seemed to be of decent quality and an appropriate size. In order to fit the tool post, I turned a sleeve to adapt it to the stud on the top slide; and a large nut to replace the original handle, which interfered with the locking mechanisms. I can highly recommend this modification.

Dial Indicator

When checking a part is running concentric, especially in the 4-Jaw chuck, a dial indicator is invaluable. rather than set up the Noga-style magnetic arm each time, I designed and printed a back plate to allow me to attach the indicator directly to the quick change tool post. This also ensures the indicator is always on centre.

Stock Storage

This was quickly knocked together from scrap plywood. It handles material from 300mm to 1000mm; smaller fits into a bin under the lathe, and larger is unlikely to be used/required. I currently have it split into Steel and Other